Will there ever be a new large iMac (Pro)?

[CWallace]

The only rumor I recall seeing about miniLED in a Mac is the 2020 iMac Pro getting a 27" miniLED display.

(The Pro Display XDR also uses miniLED, but it's a display, not a Mac.)

 

[zerozoneice]

can someone out of curiosity measure an existing 21.5 and see how much of the bezel would remain, in order for the screen to be increased to 23"?

top level gfx would be mobile Navi series 5xxx i suppose.
take the lowest-spec mobile navi SKU, put it to (barely) drive the 23" retina and charge 3x price.
works every time.

 

[DeepIn2U]

The problem is what we're using for a refresh of the iMac ... 'new design'.

The problem with the iMac is that it's very beautiful aesthetically and functionally:
iPhone 5S ad showed it within a dock right next to the iMac to mirror it's silhouette.
iPad Pro 2018/2020 both now have the Magic Keyboard for iPad, that 'floating' hinge again mirrors the iMac.

Apple will most likely create all iMacs in Space Grey (like Mac Mini and MBP units) and slim bezels or improve the screen again and will call that an 'all new design' 'best iMac we've ever made' (Phil Schiller patented phrase) lol.

All joking aside ... Apple will need to re-think the major use cases for the iMac, is the majority of their customers visual design artists? Is the audio production consumer to benefit with touch screen if angled appropriately? Appld will have to re-work the hardware design to include a fully sloping screen like an easel (aka Microsoft Surface Studio).

On a lesser thought ... if Apple truly believes The TouchBar in the MBP is to be further useful, they'll need to integrate that into a bluetooth keyboard/wired.

 

[zerozoneice]

no touchscreen for the imac as far as i can see in the future....

 

[Icaras]

no touchscreen for the imac as far as i can see in the future....

And let’s keep it that way please.
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can someone out of curiosity measure an existing 21.5 and see how much of the bezel would remain, in order for the screen to be increased to 23"?

Interested in this measurement as well.

 

[Akela_A]

And let’s keep it that way please.
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Interested in this measurement as well.

How about Apple Pencil support? Tons of artists and studios use Wacom Cintiqs to draw and sculpt on, most of which don’t have touch screen support, just pen support.

Something like that directly integrated into an iMac would be fantastic, especially when those screens are $2,500+ on their own.

 

[kazmac]

How about Apple Pencil support? Tons of artists and studios use Wacom Cintiqs to draw and sculpt on, most of which don’t have touch screen support, just pen support.

Something like that directly integrated into an iMac would be fantastic, especially when those screens are $2,500+ on their own.

If I could draw on an iMac screen with the Pencil, I'd be thrilled. iPads are nice to draw on, but I still need a desktop Mac.

 

[Icaras]

How about Apple Pencil support? Tons of artists and studios use Wacom Cintiqs to draw and sculpt on, most of which don’t have touch screen support, just pen support.

Something like that directly integrated into an iMac would be fantastic, especially when those screens are $2,500+ on their own.

That’s what Sidecar is for!

 

[Akela_A]

That’s what Sidecar is for!

Apple doesn't offer a 24" iPad, however. That's really why people buy those giant Cintiqs - to offer a large canvas with ample space to make sweeping strokes, with space to have timelines, toolboxes, palettes and references off to the side. You can't get that with an iPad, or the smaller Cintiqs for the matter, it's the difference between sketching in a notebook and drawing on an A3 canvas. When you're sculpting a super-high poly model in Zbrush or creating a large scale illustration or matte painting, the more space the better, really.

Also, reviews of Sidecar have been pretty mixed. I hope they've improved it recently, but at launch the feature apparently suffered from large amount of latency and inconsistent pressure response, making it a less then ideal solution. Regardless, having something native to the Mac is always going to be a better experience then what is essentially wirelessly streaming your monitor onto another device - and the advantage with an iMac with integrated pen support is that it would be as close to the metal as possible, even moreso then a Cintiq.

 

[iPadified]

Only the 27-inch iMacs has 4-6 weeks delivery time for BTO (iMP 3-4 weeks) while the 21.5 inch is 2-4 days. This could mean a new iMac 27 very soon while the 21.5 inch which then would come later this year in the form of a 23 inch.

I am probably reading too much into this but hey it is a rumour and speculation site afterall. The mixture of COVID-19 delays and Apples wobbly Mac strategy, it is not easy to predict what will be happening.

An iMac with pencil support but not touch - interesting idea and it would be compatible with MacOS UI as the pencil is a pointer. What a device for doing teaching videos and online teaching on! I use an iPP now but the larger canvas would be great for "white board" drawings.
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How about Apple Pencil support? Tons of artists and studios use Wacom Cintiqs to draw and sculpt on, most of which don’t have touch screen support, just pen support.

Something like that directly integrated into an iMac would be fantastic, especially when those screens are $2,500+ on their own.

Proper bezels on that Cintiq

 

[Migranya]

Jon Prosser said that, theorically, the new iMac should be already shipping but the COVID-19 torpedoed that. He also says that a release could be "at any time".

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1252763392974225409

 

[jseq]

Jon Prosser said that, theorically, the new iMac should be already shipping but the COVID-19 torpedoed that. He also says that a release could be "at any time".

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1252763392974225409

Finally rumors about iMac start to happen more frequently, also this:
About iMac refresh this year: "It´s going to be one of the more substancial onesl"

minute 0:55 and 14:50

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1252766997034594304

 

[Icaras]

Finally rumors about iMac start to happen more frequently, also this:
About iMac refresh this year: "It´s going to be one of the more substancial onesl"

minute 0:55 and 14:50

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1252766997034594304

14:50 confirms a redesign.

 

[krazzix]

can someone out of curiosity measure an existing 21.5 and see how much of the bezel would remain, in order for the screen to be increased to 23"?

Here you go. But I actually shaved some off of the top, or it would look ridiculous

Same increase for the 27" would be roughly 29":

 

[MacFather]

Deleted.

 

[Manfredi]

Larger screens with slimmer bezels, smaller chin, Intel 10th Gen Comet Lake CPUs, Face ID, 1080p Webcam, T3 Security Chip, NAVI graphics, flash storage, True Tone Display, 802.11ax Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5, updated thermal architecture, better speakers, Space Grey.

View attachment 908216

seems very interesting!!!!
i think that in any case apple will try to adopt the internal structure of the "Latest" iMac Pro in order to avoid the "easy replacement" of RAM on 27".... I HOPE NO but i think that they are going in that way...

 

[askunk]

So my guess is if there is anything in-between now and mini LED, it's just a spec bump, or perhaps adoption of the iMac Pro internal design with standard SSD's or something.

The March 2019 models were a spec bump. No SSD-only models, therefore no Tx chip, no motherboard redesign, no new screens, no new I/O.

 

[Voyageur]

Larger screens with slimmer bezels, smaller chin, Intel 10th Gen Comet Lake CPUs, Face ID, 1080p Webcam, T3 Security Chip, NAVI graphics, flash storage, True Tone Display, 802.11ax Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5, updated thermal architecture, better speakers, Space Grey.

View attachment 908216

Are these rumors or your wishes?

 

[deconstruct60]

Seem the 21.5" goes for 23" iMac in the second half 2020...so the same treatment could also applied to the 27" by only shrinking the bezels...also 200$ increase in base price buy going only SSD...the 23" will start with 256ssd

Not particularly surprising given the LG Ultrafine shifted from 21.5" to 23.7". Probably throwing the same panel into the iMac to bring them into alignment. ( same reason why previous LG Ultrafine 4K got the 21.5" ). No other monitor/system vendor is using the 21.5" size screen. Apple was out there buying these all by their lonesome. It wasn't surprising when got dropped from the 4K Ultrafine update. Likewise won't be surprising to see them dropped from the "smaller" iMac when it looses that slighty volume boost offset of the discrete displays.

The 27" really hasn't shifted in the 5K space. The XDR monitor is 6K probably doesn't need a "unit volume" driver because priced so high and still selling . That isn't a "bezel size" shift kind of change. Apple is by their lonesome with the 5K , 27" display also. But the price point is higher and the panel size is mainstream (the PPI is a bit higher than mainstream) .

 

[CWallace]

i think that in any case apple will try to adopt the internal structure of the "Latest" iMac Pro in order to avoid the "easy replacement" of RAM on 27".... I HOPE NO but i think that they are going in that way...

It's not so much "avoidance" as just a by-product of having to move the RAM away from it's current position to allow for a larger fan exhaust grill.

Now Apple could have just put the door to the side on the iMac Pro, but Jony Ive would not have stood for it (that we have replaceable RAM now is probably only because they can hide the door behind the stand). So now that he is gone, perhaps Apple will make such a panel if they have to move the RAM to the sides to accommodate a new and stronger cooling system, but I am inclined to believe Ive's aesthetic influence will remain and RAM will not be user replaceable as on the iMac Pro.

 

[Dave245]

Larger screens with slimmer bezels, smaller chin, Intel 10th Gen Comet Lake CPUs, Face ID, 1080p Webcam, T3 Security Chip, NAVI graphics, flash storage, True Tone Display, 802.11ax Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5, updated thermal architecture, better speakers, Space Grey.

View attachment 908216

That would be an instant buy for me.

 

[fokmik]

Larger screens with slimmer bezels, smaller chin, Intel 10th Gen Comet Lake CPUs, Face ID, 1080p Webcam, T3 Security Chip, NAVI graphics, flash storage, True Tone Display, 802.11ax Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5, updated thermal architecture, better speakers, Space Grey.

View attachment 908216

From my understanding, you are about right with everything

 

[Moonjumper]

I previously suggested it was unlikely Apple would wait for WWDC to release a new iMac, but I thought of one possible reason: A switch to AMD processors. They would probably want to reassure everyone that all their existing software would still work.

 

[fokmik]

I think the imac will get press release in May...and they keep Arm mac for the WWDC

 

[CWallace]

I previously suggested it was unlikely Apple would wait for WWDC to release a new iMac, but I thought of one possible reason: A switch to AMD processors. They would probably want to reassure everyone that all their existing software would still work.

Rumors today from Mark Gurman and Jon Prosser note that 2020 iMac would have shipped by now if not for COVID-19 impacting the Chinese assembly factories. No mention of moving away from Intel.